Georgia SS5H1.b
The Standard
Describe the impact on American life of the Wright brothers (flight), George Washington Carver (science), Alexander Graham Bell (communication), and Thomas Edison (electricity).
Georgia Standards of Excellence for Social Studies · Describe how life changed in America at the turn of the century.
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students connect each person’s work to changes in transportation, farming, communication, or daily use of electricity. They explain how American life differed before and after these advances.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students can match each person to the correct field and describe at least one effect on daily life. They can explain both the new technology or idea and the change it caused.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may say Edison invented electricity or Carver invented peanut butter. They may also assume telephones and airplanes became common immediately, or name an invention without explaining its impact.
How to Assess It
- Give students four names and ask them to complete this sentence for each: “The work of ___ changed American life by ___.”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Sort picture cards at four stations into life before and life after flight, crop research, telephones, and electric lighting.
Write a diary entry describing one day before an advance, then revise it to show how life changed afterward.
Play a matching game with person, field, invention or research, and impact cards, then require players to explain each completed set.
Choose a modern phone, airplane, farm product, or light bulb and create a three-step timeline tracing it to one person’s work.
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